Properties of blood vessels - L8 Flashcards
SEE slide 2 - Vascular organisation and specialisation
Blood vessels:
Arteries, arterioles, capillaries, veules, veins
What are arteries?
They are relatively large, branching vessels that
conduct blood away from the heart. Major artery is aorta
What is blood flowing in?
Blood flows in series
What are arterioles?
small branching vessels with high resistance
What are capillaries?
site of exchange between blood and tissues
Where they are offloading gases and nutrients and picking back up wastes and metabolites
What are venules?
They are small converging vessels - drain blood to veins
What are veins?
They are relatively large converging vessels that conduct blood to the heart. Major vein is vena
cava (superior and inferior)
Circulatory blood volume % ?
Systemic arterioles
Systemic capillaries
Systemic Veins
Systemic arteries
Pulmonary vessels
Heart
Systemic arterioles - 2%
Systemic capillaries - 5%
Systemic Veins - 64%
Systemic arteries - 13%
Pulmonary vessels - 9%
Heart - 7%
Special features of the artery in terms of vessel composition:
Muscular, highly elastic
Special features of the arteriole in terms of vessel composition:
Muscular, well innervated
Special features of the capillary in terms of vessel composition:
Thin walled, highly permeable
Special features of the venule in terms of vessel composition:
Thin-walled, some smooth muscle
Special features of the vein in terms of vessel composition:
Thin-walled (compared to arteries), fairly muscular, highly distensible
Another name for systemic veins?
Capacitance veins
Function of arteries:
Passageway from heart to organs which serves as pressure reservoir
Why do the arteries have to be highly elastic and highly muscular?
Highly elastic because it has to be able to stretch to accept influx coming from heart and highly muscular to be able to contract to propel blood along the way
Function of arterioles:
Primary resistance vessels that determine the distribution of cardiac output
Arterioles are well innervated by what control?
Well innervated under sympathetic control at all times, vascular tone.
Capillary - most important feature functionally and structurally and why?
1 Cell wall thick - just made up of endothelial layer, thin walled and highly permeable to allow exchange
Function of capillaries:
Site of exchange which determines the distribution of extra cellular fluid between plasma and interstitial fluid
What is important structural feature of veins?
Highly distensible
It swells as function as capacitance vessel
It is a reservoir for blood
Q. Describe microvasculature within circulatory system
talk about structure and function of microvasculature being arterioles and capillaries
macrovasculature is the arteries and veins - larger vessels
Functions of veins:
Passageway to hear from organs thats serves as blood reservoir